Russell Harmening pitched a complete-game shutout in the opening game of a Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheader at No. 12 The Master’s (23-5, 13-5 GSAC) to claim the first game of a doubleheader, winning by a score of 4-0. Harmening allowed five hits, struck out five and issued just one walk to help Westmont Baseball (13-10, 6-9) take two out of three games in the series.
The Warriors got all four of their runs in the third inning. The first came on single down the right field line by Joey Gonzales that drove in Chris Stroh. The rest of the runs came on a three-run, line-drive home run by Brandon Gildea that cleared the left field fence despite a raging headwind.
In the second game, which was originally scheduled for seven innings, Westmont came within a strike of sweeping the series. With the Warrior up 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, two outs, a man on third and a 3-2 count, the Mustang’s Riddle singled up the middle to tie the game at two.
The two squads would play two more scoreless innings before The Master’s would get the winning run in the bottom of the tenth.
Alex Bush started the game and gave the Warriors seven innings of work allowing two runs on three hits. Michael Rishwain pitched two scoreless innings without giving up a hit. Sam Sheehan took the loss for the Warriors.
Next week, the Warriors will play at home on Tuesday, making up a rained out game against Arizona Christian. Then on Friday, they begin a five-game, four-day round trip travelling first to San Diego Christian for a three-game series on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday and Monday, Westmont will play in the Tucson Invitational against Minot State (N.D.) and Dickinson State (N.D.).
